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The VanEck Vectors Semiconductor ETF (NYSEArca: SMH) is up about 12% year-to-date and residing near record highs. Some market observers believe semiconductor stocks and the related exchange traded funds can deliver more upside.

“The large semiconductor-tracking exchange-traded fund, the SMH, reached an all-time intraday high Wednesday as names like Advanced Micro Devices and Intel rose. The SMH has now logged a 12 percent advance in 2018, and a 42 percent gain in the last year,” reports CNBC.

Semiconductor ETFs have recently been durable performers as semiconductor stocks are rebounding to steady the broader technology sector, but that does not mean the gains are over for this suddenly hot group. However, valuations are rising for chip stocks. Some data points indicate the bullishness can continue for chip stocks and the related ETFs.

“Worldwide semiconductor revenue is forecast to total $451 billion in 2018, an increase of 7.5 percent from $419 billion in 2017, according to Gartner, Inc. This represents a near doubling of Gartner’s previous estimate of 4 percent growth for 2018,” according to industry research group Gartner. “Despite the upward revision for 2018, the quarterly growth profile for 2018 is expected to fall back to a more normal pattern with a mid-single-digit sequential decline in the first quarter of the year, followed by a recovery and buildup in both the second and third quarters of 2018, and a slight decline in the fourth quarter.”

Some of SMH’s holdings are credible digital currency plays due to their blockchain exposure. Blockchain is the centralized transaction record for all cryptocurrencies.